Religion Harms Society | David Silverman | Oxford Union
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- čas přidán 17. 11. 2013
- David Silverman argues that religion harms society.
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David Silverman starts by addressing the previous speaker's (Mehrunissa Sajjad) claims that religion does not invite us to kill when in fact it does. Highlighting that religion harms society by making believers into victims forcing them to disrearding everything we know today and accept ancient myths as truth, he goes on to say that people don't do good things because they are good people but because they are religious.
Filmed on Thursday 7th November 2013
MOTION: This House Believe That Religion Harms Society.
RESULT: Motion Carried.
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ABOUT DAVID SILVERMAN:
David Silverman is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of religion in public when possibly interpretable as governmental endorsement.
ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION SOCIETY:
The Union is the world's most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. It has been established for 190 years, aiming to promote debate and discussion not just in Oxford University, but across the globe.
Rights managed by Oxford Media Associates www.oxfordmediaassociates.com/
Filmed by Oxford Media Solutions www.oxfordmediasolutions.co.uk
That coughing could be a deliberate tactic to distract Silverman and cause him to lose his train of thought. I've been to debates where that actually happened, the religious can be very sneaky like that.
I thought the same.
Agreed! I was watching this and wondering if a tuberculosis epidemic was unfolding.
Annoys the hell out of me. Excessive.
What's with all that goddamn coughing. Was this recorded in a rest home for tuberculosis victims?
Yes, stuffy houses cause health problems.. look it up
Oxford is a very damp city. 🤣🤣🤣
This made me laugh out loud. I can't stand that coughing lol
🤣🤣
@@abashedsanctimony154 what is a “stuffy” house?
lol you can tell that the christians aren't even listening.
stubborn ignorance.
Fuck them... They are puppets; they don't listen.
I agree with you
Circle jerking comments...
Oh David,
You try living in fear of the lions and/or an angry god, well, you'll soon see that paying attention is too much to ask.
If everybody were rational there wouldn't be any religious people. ( Dr. Gregory House )
Love it! This man, Silverman, builds the case against religion by exposing its absurdities for what they are. Why can't religious people see that? I myself never saw religion's absurdities, not having taken the time to do so. There is a shroud of fear that keeps people in the dark even in the 21st century, as though we ought to be living back in time, say the "dark ages".
most religious people were raised in religious households. when you are a child, your brain absorbs information like a sponge absorbs water. this ability fades away slowly, and around 25 you lose it and learning things becomes harder. therefore it is very hard for someone to change their views drastically. (usually it takes some kind of a trauma.)
it is very rare that if a person was atheist in the early years to become religious. again, usually it requires a trauma.
@@szepi79 Only when put into a position whereby their backs against the wall can some of us discern the truth and what's important. Being in prison is a good example, being in a harrowing life or death situation is another. Atheists use this to claim religion is only important to some when desperation comes calling and I agree. When things are on the line so to speak we respond most honestly. How many die-hard atheists would drop to their knees in prayer if their plane was in peril? A lot more then atheists will admit to.
Atheism is the easy way, by nature we prefer easy and there's no motive to make things more difficult for ourselves. We'll remain lazy and uninformed forever if given the chance. Belief in God is absent if the subject is never raised, but that hardly supports that atheism is anything other then indecision. Why not be certain that your loved ones are aware of what you fully believe in and what's most important to you?
According to you nobody can think for themselves up to the age of 25, therefore they're doomed to be religious forever based upon childhood teachings. Most people rebel in general in their teens and early twenties so if there's a desire to leave their religion it will happen before the age of 25.
Atheists complain that the children of theists are forced or are unfairly indoctrinated before their old enough to decide for themselves. When has it been proper for anyone to intercede in another man's home and family? Do atheists take a poll of theists to get their opinion about how to raise their children? Do theists involve themselves in the business between atheist parents and their children? I've never heard of such an intrusion, when we become adults we choose for ourselves but that's not good enough for atheists.
I hear this mentioned very often as if anyone has the right to bemoan how parents raise their own children. Yes it's an opinion but it doesn't come across as an innocent comment. It's an unspoken tradition among human beings that we don't get involved in the way other's raise their children. This uncontrollable and inappropriate concern indicates a restlessness that's always present when things are imbalanced and unnatural. Being agitated indicates an unhealthy force is attempting to guide you to oppose your own spirit.
@@MrMarco855 wow, who shat in your cereal? :D
first of all, don't put words into my mouth. also 90% of your reply is an assumption. I'm not sure this is the smart thing, but I'm going to reply to you in detail.
"When things are on the line so to speak we respond most honestly. How many die-hard atheists would drop to their knees in prayer if their plane was in peril? A lot more then atheists will admit to. "
1. assumption
2. when in danger, most living creatures respond irrationally. even if what you said was true, what is your point?
"We'll remain lazy and uninformed forever if given the chance."
that is quite rich, coming from an argument FOR religion. every religion's theories and dogmas are full of logical fallacies, but the believers tend to ignore that, because it is easier than really think about 'wow, maybe my believes are false?' relgions are far more concerned keeping their power than finding out the truth.
"Belief in God is absent if the subject is never raised"
1. yeah, that's my point, but unfortunatelly:
2. this is not true, humans tend to search for the cause of things. the lazy solution is religion ( = God did it, no need to further investigate), doing experiments and possibly admitting 'we dont know (yet)' is the harder.
"atheism is anything other then indecision. "
I don't follow. what am I indecisive about? which religion not to believe in today? being religous is more likely an indecision. chances are, if you were born in America or Europe, you will become Christian; Muslim if you are from the Middle East and certain parts of Asia and Africa; Hindu if you are from India. (in the overwhelming majority) it's not your decision, it's the region you happen to born in.
"According to you nobody can think for themselves up to the age of 25"
I never said anything even remotely close to that. I only said your brain will lose the ability to learn things fast (which is a fact). thinking for yourself is a different topic.
"Atheists complain that the children of theists are forced or are unfairly indoctrinated before their old enough to decide for themselves. When has it been proper for anyone to intercede in another man's home and family?"
true and until recently (past 100 years) it was very common that a small community had a lot of unspoken rules about how children should be brough up. even today, if your kid is misbehaving in public, you will often get dirty looks from others. or go to Facebook groups for beginner parents, you wont believe how much shit is going on :D
"Do atheists take a poll of theists to get their opinion about how to raise their children?"
no, but we receive the opinions nevertheless :D it's human nature.
"It's an unspoken tradition among human beings that we don't get involved in the way other's raise their children."
really? since when? quite the opposite. it was the tradition that we DO get involved, and it is only recently that we started to stay out of other people's business.
Why dont you check on the videos of prof James Tour. Origens of life
I agree on the religious houses telling children if they do a small bad thing you go to hell… I was raised Christian but did my own thing for 13 years then decided to follow God, not religion. Religion scares people but true genuine believers don’t, we don’t preach going to hell but we preach how God loves them and how they can be saved. Yes hell is real and there are a lot of testimonies of that but God giving them a chance and being saved. But you’d personally have to give us actual accounts of these people abusing kids, until then I believe you get that from other peoples opinion. Unless you were raised in a religious home then it’s understandable, so don’t confuse us with Christians who are wolves dressed up as sheep. God bless you all
I love the dummy who interrupts David to ask "Then why are there mathematicians, scientists etc who believe in God?" Uhm, wow. I guess this must be her first time witnessing such a debate. That pisses me off to no end. One would hope that each debate would pick up from where the last one left off. But no. There is no progress. Every one of these debates are still filled with the same idiotic questions that have been posed, and rebutted, for over a century. Why do we even waste our time anymore?
because it's important. Because when secularists and sceptics shut up the preacher that screams the loudest wins the masses. Religion has always been shoved down people's throats and world regions have mass-converted and indoctrinated the mindset of whole cultures. We can't let that slide.
haiggoh Agreed 100%, haiggoh. But don't you get a little frustrated hearing the same things over and over from theists which get corrected over and over by atheists? Then the theists use the same argument in their next debate as if it were their first time. It's intellectually dishonest to repeat the same fallacious statements that have already been thoroughly explained.
***** Yes I know exactly what you are talking about. I recently had a discussion with a creationist and he copypasted the some taken out of context quotes of Darwin and some other scientists who were also born in the nineteenth century who said that the fossil record didn't offer enough transitional forms to prove evolution and he was convinced that bringing up this quotes miraculously devalidates the whole theory. Therefore I explained to him in various ways that science is progressing and that archaeologists haven't been sitting around twiddling their thumbs for the last 150 years and after some back and fourth he just came up with some other quotes that were just as outdated and misconstrued as the once before. It's going in circles and those people are not even aware how flawed their own arguments are. Or they are aware and still use them again and again anyway. Either way, it's depressing.
+Giordano Bruno that doesn't mean the atheists debunked it and atheists also say also of false things debunked by theists especially when they speak on religion
Its uncool to even talk about religion. That was a 19th century thing.
Silverman is so awesome and spot on with what religion does to a society. A fact it is
The fear religion brings to people keeps them from seeing the truth!! The freedom from fear I have achieved since becoming a non believer is priceless. 🙏🙏. Three years ago I died & fortunately was revived. I experienced nothing didn’t even know I had died. The peace I’ve felt since then cannot be measured 🙏🙏
When falsehood clouds a person the feel trapped learn the truth of Islam real peace will be felt
So much coughing in the background. Would not be surprised in the least if that was orchestrated by the "moral" Christians in an attempt to drown out the voices of reason. I am sure there are no such coughs during the speeches promoting ancient myths and superstitions.
Now who’s being the ridiculous one? People cough, it’s not an elaborate conspiracy
When I learned Galileo was persecuted by Catholic church for announcing his discovery of Earth's actual rotation /orbit in the solar system....that was all I needed to know in making my decision as far as religion is concerned.
(The Catholics finally accepted they made a huge mistake....CENTURIES LATER. )
The Church didn't persecute Galileo , or any other person for their SCIENTIFIC discoveries! In fact, MANY , if not most fields of science had major contributions from Catholic clergy - priests or monks - including the Big Bang and other areas of astronomy. Copernicus was NOT persecuted for his heliocentric studies because he never made the RELIGIOUS assertions that Galileo did about Scripture being necessarily literal and therefore wrong. Most of the nonsense about the Church and other religions is from people who LIE or are utterly ignorant about them to begin with! Its amazing how atheists and secularists want to IGNORE the GENOCIDE by atheistic regimes, while lying about supposed atrocities in the name of religion. If you want to have a legitimate debate about religion, you need to be informed and stop lying about religion AND be honest about the evils done in the name of atheistic communism and other neo-paganistic movements like Nazism.
@@mickey30981 The Catholic Church persecuted Galileo for heliocentrism. Look up the historical records of the Catholic Church. They apologized for the event.
They caused untold suffering for Europeans for approximately 2000years
@@comforth3898 He just refuted your point lmao.
Christianity has ruined the truth after its corruption and ignorance of the people no one will be guided except by Allah mercy
someone needed caughing syrup
Every talk ever.
Covid "vax" anyone? Lol
@@silentmajority3399 hell no
I have this syrup that makes you cough
It's just a touch of COVID-20...
Religion is the worse things that ever happened society. Hopefully,one day,we can put religion behind us.
@Jake 22love Agreed, we can ask God for that!
Everything he said was true, he's brilliant.
Does he mean pagan religion? Correct islam,Hinduism, buddhism, confusionism(Confuciansim),egyptology all worthless
@@abashedsanctimony154 your bias is showing
@@dontignorewatchme5851 there is no proof those are real religion.. ghandi defected from ancient pagan Hinduism. Confucian (I like to call Confusion) is philosophy.. Buddhism is a fat guy . Islam is from allat / hubal moon god worship of Medina...
Now my bias is disproven
@@yousriboyko2459 I did, alaha/alahu is the equivalent of elohim. Islam proves the Trinity .
Qur'aan says Isa is Jesus , but rather is son of Miriam back at the time of Moses. That would be false.
So, therefore Islam is false.
@@yousriboyko2459 every Scholar on the planet has proved Christianity. Who do you need to reference? Muhammad? Constantine? Pontius Pilot? Herod? Augustus? Nero? Josephus? Tacitus?
Child, you are not educated
The man is speaking the truth, and deep, deep down, everyone knows it. They do.
Actually I just saw a man talking about is worldview, saw no higher or absolute truth there, I do not even belief in the concept of such a truth.
no they don't, they're stupid
He makes interesting points, but I don't agree with the subjective portions of his speech.
Why is a question allowed to be asked in the middle of his speech (at 3:45)? I didn't think that was proper in this type of debate format.
It was really interesting to watch people's faces as he forcefully asserted his well thought out points about what should be obvious by now. I saw very little interest in what's actually a crucial subject for us all to confront on a global level (as Christendom, Islam, and Judaism threaten to tear one another limb from limb, taking us all with it, whether we buy what they're selling or not), let alone agreement. I would have been vigorously nodding and mouthing "Thank you, I'm glad someone's finally saying it" the entire presentation. This message needs to said over and over again until it finally sinks in. Religion is like drug addiction. It may bring pleasure to its adherents, but the costs are astronomical on an individual, societal and global level.
@jztouch So we have semi rich potentially academic people all dressed up really posh slagging of religion, perhaps a good thing and dispelling God perhaps not a good thing.
What if a group of antichrists got together over a drink and thought this whole 'show' up and came blasting out with their pseudo anti meta-physical realization that if it's invisible then it 'ain't there.
Good luck with Cosmic radiation there.
Like I said in my other comment, nobody is talking about miracles, strangely, or savvy cats who won't be shooed from the vets until they gave been examined, only to be diagnosed with some definite illness.
What if universal power exists but not that of God, what if God is the epitome of universal energy and power?
But offering "Religion is bad" and that "there is no God" they are advocating an immediate shutdown of the access of universal power, which, needs both a receiver and a transmitter. How can we explain that? So, as we have been spiritually raped by all these academics saying that there is no religion and therefore no God and therefore no universal power then those of a weaker ilk, novices or those of little faith or who are unsure will have had this awareness this power this relationship with God taken away from them and will be very lonely indeed compared to before!
Assuming there is God and good and evil and universal power - all along, then the Devil 😈 if s/he/it exists must be having a whale of a time and would be sitting back laughing and cojoling and probably invited a few dead friends round to have a listen to these poor people in dinner attire talking with such a sub intelligently low intellect that it is +ively embarrassing!!
So hey, good luck with slagging off religion but do not forget about far more important things like God's relationship with you (and vice versa) Nobody in their right mind would give a toss about religion it is one's own personal relationship with God that should never be challenged or else we are moving onto far darker times indeed!!
so many facts, deep thoughts and intellectual information but probably ignored by 80% of the audience ... "but my religion says this", GTFO
Name the many facts that he mentioned. Why does he speak so fast that there's little time to formulate an opinion or a response? That's why the audience is paying no attention, they can't consider one claim before he's on to the next.
@@MrMarco855 because he is timed idiot
@@MrMarco855
Way to fain ignorance, you lying arse. Don't play dumb with us, because it's an insult to both our intelligence.
@@mr.mister3354 Better to make a single point that's understood then to ramble on without giving time to consider. Why insult someone that pointed out the obvious? Don't let inferiority define you; listen and learn and you'll discover who the idiot has always been.
@@JanetStarChild Trying to impress with improper use of the language?
'Thow shall have no other God before me.' Wait a minute! So you God, have a problem. You want us humans to get rid of all other gods so you can be the Only one? Ain't that your job?
Not at all, freedom to choose, ever heard of it? Why would God stand by to make every decision and choice for us, life would have no meaning. We learn and remember best by our mistakes. Gods desire that we worship no other God has been portrayed as being jealousy, which is the absurdity of biased thinking. An intellectual might suggest that he created us therefore he is the God of Heaven, where we should all aspire to live in eternity. Following any other God means you lose the chance for eternal life in Heaven, thus his request that we honor no other God except him, the righteous and only God. If you don't believe in God, that has nothing to do with this issue, we're discussing this with the understanding that God exists, for the sake of the debate.
David Silverman rocks!
He's ignorant
@@abashedsanctimony154 you only think that because you cannot handle the truth
@@abashedsanctimony154 Stop projecting
@@carlovanelli1694 only God has an image, and as a son of God I have His image to project.
You as an atheist have no image. I project as I feel as it's the truth
Deal with it
@@abashedsanctimony154 Wishful thinking and unsubstantiated claims don't impress me
Bad people tend to do bad things, good people tend to do good things, it takes religion to make good people do bad things.
But it seems like the opposite is sometimes also be true, that religion can lead bad people to do good things because they fear hell or whatever.
Any ideology can cause good people to do bad things. It all goes down to the fundaments of the ideology.
B dv I don't think that it truely matters what the ideology contains, it will always get used to justify horrible acts which seem to be part of the human nature. A religion of love and peace will be used to justify acts of violence, just like ideas of democracy do when the Americans think they can enforce that with military upon the world. So, it really doesn't matter how good the intentions are, people hate others with different worldviews and will always commit vile acts against those.
+firstbaldwin No because a good person would normally reject the bad things of the religion like many Muslims are doing
Drudenfusz
Sorry for my VERY late reply. I seem to have missed this.
TL:DR:
Matthew 7:15-20
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
"don't think that it truely matters what the ideology contains, it will always get used to justify horrible acts which seem to be part of the human nature."
--This implies
a)that what you believe doesn't matter and
b)that "positive things" can be used to justify "negative things."
It's evident that humans are more prone to do horrible acts, than constructive/"saintly" ones, but I heavily disagree with (a) and (b), because:
a) What you believe determines your behavior from the laws of physics to characteristics of the ideology you choose to believe. Further yet, even if you believe something small like "we're better than you" and "their inferior to both of us" can have PROFOUND consequences. Take Hitler for instance. He believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and the inferiority of jews. (combine that with some Darwinism and you end up with the sterilisation of the handicapped/disabled, killing of homosexuals and the killing of Eastern Europeans to create "Lebensraum" for the Aryan race)
b)You can make a spectrum of every moral dilemma from extremely wrong/bad to extremely right/good. For example: I believe killing is never ok, not even in self defense or not even when something awful is happening to my family VS: killing is always ok, independent from any excuse. Everyone CHOOSES to believe/accept somewhere on that spectrum, but the interesting thing is that you can't be 100% neutral. (food for thought) anyways, this means that if you follow Jesus for example and you truly believe: "You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!" (Jesus' words Matthew 5:21-22) and if (a) is true, then you CAN'T and WON'T use it to justify murder. (ofcourse someone can change their decision on the matter, but they won't be able to justify it with this verse, because it's *on the opposite side of the spectrum*. and quite in the extreme end)
Now if you compare (and choose to truly believe) these verses: "O you who believe! Fight those of the
unbelievers who are near to you
and let them find in you hardness." (Quran 9:123)
or
"I have been commanded to fight
against people till they testify that there
is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad
is the messenger of Allah" (Muslim 1:33)
Then it becomes crystal clear that Muhammad is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Not only is it condoned, but it's promoted. This will lead to MUCH different behavior and will help you understand why there are SO MANY more violent militant islamic groups out there vs other religions and why they commit those horrible acts. (they're emulating Muhammad to the letter)
Jesus said it best (ofcourse^^):
Matthew 7:15-20
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Excellent! Brave, brave man. I would love to meet him and talk with him. Lots you can learn from an intelligent person like David Silverman. He has set my Atheism in stone.
Keep up the good work David.
He's a pretty tense guy in person. Not someone to sit down and chat over a pint or two. But a good source of knowledge and a passionate man who is certainly fun to speak with.
He isn't brave at all he is saying what you all want to hear and he knows it. That isn't being brave.. Being brave is when a person has truth knowing when it is spoken this God forsaken world will oppose and ridicule and if such a person stands up that is brave because he knows opposition will blast forth. Then by the powers of Satan he will be shut up and thrown out because no one will listen to the truth. The whole world lies in the power of the wicked one that is why you accept the compilation of weapons for mass destruction of man from earth leaving a small percentage to live under the rule of Baphomet their god of war and destruction.
@@josephinemullar7857 spot on. There is nothing brave about spouting rubbish that everyone around you wants to hear. He knows he speaks to a broad audience who desperately needs to believe there is no God. So nothing brave about it at all.
@hames stanfield
Question: Is evolution fact or theory?
Answer: It is Theory! Question: Was it one reptile that systematically turned into a bird or was it two or more reptiles that turned into birds by the magic potion of billions of years?
Even billions of years are inappropriate to make claim reptilian life could turn into birds in their so many unique forms. Such declarations are unacceptable to a normal human mind seeing truth in light and not in the darkness as described by Albert Pike and Huxley et al. There is no logical explanation at all of how reptilians could possibly change from a cold blooded animal to a warm blooded animal, from scales and crawling on its belly in swamps to having two legs, beak and feathers having an amazing respiratory system enabling them to fly in thin air and high altitude.
The claims of evolution goes beyond human imagination. It cannot truthfully be explained away how reptiles having solid bones and scales evolved into birds having hollow bones, beak, two legs and feathers. A truly intelligent person knows truth and abides by truth. A person knowing and teaching what is true wouldn't voice such idiocy. Only intelligent people who knowingly and willingly speak lies given them from a superiorly wicked and malevolent source of intelligence would force that ideology upon other people.
You people just make up the most preposterous lies to blind humanity to the fact the source of Light in far greater magnitude to the sun created by Him also created earth and mankind, who were created by Him to have the abilities of God and his only Begotten Son who are the epitome of Love. That Son was with His Father in the time of the beginning of His creating the heavens, the earth and all that is alive within them.
When lies of evolution are enforced upon humanity those doing that are doing the work of the adversary who is against my Omniscient, Omnipotent God and His Firstborn Son. To go along with that evil in this life is a big mistake for to do so brings all who do that into subjection of Satan's influence and brings mankind under His power and authority, very soon to be done away with in the battle of good against evil where good will triumph. Eternity under satanic authority will be terrifying for all who choose his ways. I will not reveal at this point how I know but I warn evolution theorists, you should search for God and for truth for your own sake.
@@johanweakley2658 yup yup yup!! People always go with the flow and justify it. He’s rebellious, hatred for God and believes we believers are evil and abusive. False information. I tell people know the difference between religious people and the born again believers.
Imagine a world where Atheists live North of the Equator and Theists live South of it, or vice versa, and wonder how life would be in the the two hemispheres.
Good thinking.
The progressions of both sides would show.
How I wish that would happen.
It will not do much as this world does not matter after it turns to dust the hereafter will be divided between the righteous and not
David is brilliant, I'll have to get his book.
May I ask what this book is that you speak of? I would also like to read this book.
David Taylor It's titled "I, Atheist: America’s Loudest Heathen Fires Back "
JF_Sebastian
Thanks.
He's stupidity in oxfords purest form
@@abashedsanctimony154 Stupidity? How is that possible? He's talking from his own experience when, because he's young, it's being ignored.
He legit said alot i had tought before with words so others can understand🙌
Succinct, well argued and powerful. What else do we expect from Mr Silverman.
Certainly not the truth but you need comprehension skills to discern dishonest rhetoric from the truth.
@@MrMarco855 how can you tell what is true? Can you demonstrate your gods existence? I'd like to see you replicate bread and transmute water into wine, the bible has no demonstrable second witnesses, nobody has repeated the things that happened, if you asked me I'd say god was an old word for a king or a con artist like Kenneth Copeland and his ilk. Why do all of these evengelists need 10% of everybody's income? I thought god didn't need spare change, maybe it's all a scam, maybe it's a way to claim someone elses hard work, property and everything else they have done.
Is there a link for the full debate?
Should have paused and said: "Jeeesus, stop your bloody coughing or GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!"
Well done 👍,,,,,,but religious people don’t want to know the truth,,,
David should be a lawyer
David should be a much bigger leader in America. He's got it all.
when you have an essay for tommorow and you find this kind of video:)
Very thorough 🙋
Great arguments that highlight the negatives of organised religion. It is best to respect religions but to think beyond them. Better philosophies can garner better truths.
Some guy’s religion said we should kill about 6 million people and anyone else who does not have certain physical traits. You are saying we should respect that. Well, I say, fuck him and everyone else and their religion.
Awesome and True.
Excellent speaker!
Can someone please pass the Robitussin around?
Religions come and go, and these to shall pass. The religious like to debate the scientific community to falsely claim credibility. But the masses are waking up to this ruse.
+Karen Lewis religion and science are not separate
+Baji Scipio Dārayav Aurelius “Hemu Rawal Domitian” Julian Venizelos Nalwa Pls do elaborate your point and enlighten us. :) Stop being intellectually lazy as religion teaches and do explain.
Haj Tom it means that you can believe in both you don't have choose one
YOu have not answered the question, do explain HOW? Elaborate? -_- Repeating what you said in another way does not make the general idea different.
Haj Tom I explained to you what I meant when I said that religion and science are separate
Is it possible to edit out all the religious coughing?
lol, nice one!
Brilliant.
Some well delivered truths.
Wait a minute, if women feel horrible birth pain because of original sin, then isn't God continuing to punish baptized women even after he "forgives" them? Lol
Are you suggesting the Bible might contain contradictions or inaccuracies? Straight to hell for you!!
Nakadu haha not an angry atheist here but what's wrong with questioning someone's belief even if it's done in mockery? Some people are just ignorant so you gotta show them some love!
McGhostluvin says the "ghost" dude you ain't even alive so why you worrying?
Ruqayyah Hussain I never said you shouldn't question someone's beliefs.
Sexually transmittable disease and unwanted pregnancies were also rampant, due to the lack of knowledge of one's body and sexuality in the ancient world.
Weren't those god's punishment for the evil doers? LOL
He's a helluva speaker and makes great points.
Who the fuck was coughing the whole time lol
"Religion is not just wrong, religion is pro stagnation"
- great comment from this lecture
@@tsarnicholasii274 *Yawns*..you people are so typical and predictable with your fallacies
Very well said and a pretty good performance by Silverman. His style is usually combative and aggressive and he remained true to that style but dressed it up a bit.
Religion heavily held us back centuries of science we would be way more advanced if we didn't have religion
Great points
Good job
Absolutely brilliant!
How many people have been killed in the name of religion over the centuries?
My calculator ran out of digits
If that's so, then your calculator might just explode if you try to calculate how many people have been killed by atheists.
Science has killed far more. 2 bombs 75 years ago nearly wiped out 2 cities in Japan. Millions of bombs have been dropped on human beings since their development by way of science. Chemical weapons have killed untold numbers of innocent people, gas weapons, and laser weapons. Now we have directed energy weapons that can make a person disappear, and that's just the beginning of what science is guilty of.
The Polio vaccine has killed many millions of people as it turns into a carcinogenic agent at some point. Recently it has been proven that the offspring of those that received the polio vaccine from 1955 to 1963 and possibly the years beyond, are dying of cancer related to this SV40 virus. It's a virus that originated in African monkey's. The kidneys of these monkeys was used as a live culture in the development of the vaccine. Scientists failed to abide by a mandatory testing program before releasing a product for public use. Now, hundreds of millions of Americans have died or are at risk of dying, and their children are victims as well. It's been proven that this deadly virus is being passed on from the person that received the vaccination to their offspring. What about the grandchildren of those infected and so on? All because of human greed and a lack of compassion for the well being of others. The now infamous race to win the patent for the vaccine has morphed into a very deadly nightmare. We gave some of this product to other countries as well. What a horrific, ongoing failure of science this has tuned into.
Probably less than atheism. If you truly researched this subject you’d realise just how wrong you are. China alone killed an uncountable number of theists due to their militant atheism
@@tsarnicholasii274 You jest surely
Some examples where people were killed under the religious banner
Crusades (think 6 in total)
Spanish Inquisition
Muslim invasion of Spain
just to name a few over the centuries and you are looking at a political blip in Chinese history. Not religious but ideology.
We Chinese are not homogenous. We have fought wars over geopolitical matters for centuries. Similar to Europe
Further the current political system enshrines religious freedom in its constitution.
BTW these are the numbers
350 million Confucianism
30 million Islam
40 million Christianity
50 million Buddhism
Maybe in the west a deeper understanding of China needs to occur
Giordano Bruno, it certainly does seem like a waste of time. But for some people, like myself, the chains of religion must be undone one link at a time. I have no idea how long it took me, or how many times I had to say "wow, it's creepy how right that atheist sounds" before I could free myself and realize the life I had right in front of me. Now that there is the internet, this is happening to even more people. Admittedly, I wasn't doing it before it was cool, but now would be the worst time to stop. It would be like if Darwin had kept his work to himself, like he almost did. Internet atheism is a shitstorm that needs to happen and shake people and wake people up. And maybe of all the things that humanity has driven extinct, we can proudly add Religion to the list.
+Septomicron Internet atheism is what it is and religion doesn't need to be extinct but it depends on the religion
It's certainly a lofty ambition to "make religion extinct" given that seemingly no matter what happens on the planet culturally, historically, or philosophically it keeps chugging along. Moreover, atheism itself is a "belief system" like well...a religion. I'm persuaded that religion is going to be around for the long haul. It's encoded in the human psyche...part of our genetic make-up...that is why there are known cultures or peoples recorded anywhere that have no religion. As for there being an "internet atheist shitstorm," people have long abandoned believing something simply because it's on the internet.
TO BE CHRISTIAN IS NOT A RELIGION. ATHEISM AND COMMUNISM ARE RELIGIONS
@@kjellhansen1387 Har du tilgang til pc på åsgård?
It will happen. Fortunately for you like many others, you already had the intellectual prowess to see past the deceit of religion. Especially those like Christianity, that sugar coat their atrocities. Disgusting hypocritical ideologies is how I describe all religions. They deserve no respect. Calling them out is the right thing to do.
It will take time to kill all religions. How long? Well I can't say. But it looks like every new generation is smarter than the previous and they naturally reject the scam that is religion.
I guess when old moronic creatards die off.
We have to keep fighting against the indoctrination of death cults like Christianity and Islam. Protect the young from falling victim to superstitious hypocrisy. And let nature do its thing.
Religion is an embarrassment to our species. An insult to intelligence. And an illness in every civilization.
It is time we got rid of it. Just like the plague.
The endless religious dance around the nice things the bible says and instructs and the blind denial of the vile violent religious reality of the bible, religion and religious people.
Jesus Christ can these people stop coughing constantly!?
😂😂Covid 19 ground zero
The coughing was clearly deliberate. How immature. It was very distracting.
That's common sense.
Why'd that one random girl interrupt him?
+C. Venom I know. That was rude.
C. Venom It's within the boundaries of an Oxford-style debate, it's called a point of information. It allows any spectator or debator to ask a question during someone's turn; not rude at all.
Christian Vennemann to ask a stupid question lol
COULDNT LISTEN TO THE TRUTH, THATS WHY SHE JUMP OUT OF BLUE
All the problem we have is because of religion that should be separate from the state and not force there fake doctrines from thousands of years ago on us. Or incarceration percentage is through the roof cause of this religious people in government thinking everything is bad you know how many innocent people are incarcerated
I love this
David Silverman explains very clearly. Absorb his knowledge and put it into practice.
Well said. I'm actually partial to the Sumer/Babylonian 5-Headed Dragon Goddess Tiamat, the Mother of Primordial Chaos. But... a very fine Gospel of Tiamat that rivals the moral depravity of Abrahamic Monotheism. Anyone want to join?
Nothing in this universe can be claimed as always benificial and good. Everything has advantage and disadvantages according to intrests and inclinations of societies. So having any fixed ideas is another commandments. Life doesn't needs any fixed commandments it needs to choose benificial only appropriate to time place and situation
I think deep down we all are atheists but most of people just refuse to believe that there is no god ,
well said mate, well said, ya got ya comment a like
And I think many would argue the opposite. Your position is simply an opinion with next to no evidence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_consequences
I truly hope someone keeps these Stalinists away from the helm of the western world. I'm an atheist and I'm terrified of these psychopaths taking over society.
So the next question is: are successful societies secular, or are secular societies successful?
+uncleanunicorn Depends on the context; is it ordered? Is it fair? Does it care for its minorities? Does it offer personal freedom including the freedom to not be religious?
That is indeed a ver good question! I think religiosity and society success has mutual correlation since you can find how one has an effect on the other. As an increasing circle process. Like a snow ball.
Good observation, but there are exceptions for both of those points.
Does it matter?
Nakadu It might.
I love this guy, is terrific. He really knows how to put the christians down but he's a non religious Jew.
Professor Stephen Hawking was one of the greatest minds in history and he was an atheist. Need we say more.
If there's one thing that won't convince a religious person to be atheist, it's an argument from authority, even if it's reasonably compelling.
Why is there no mention of pyramids in the bible a pretty important thing back then um a pretty important thing now!
All these people probably came down with a cold after being locked into a room with a bunch of coughers!
COVID
Then let us look at some societies in history that were non religious. No Mr. Silverman they too were full of atrocities.
+Ian Alan >tfw the first proposition video literally points out that your comment is a total fucking irrelevancy before you ever made it.
+Ian Alan of course you realize those societies were not aobut non religioun, if you are talking about communism that itself is a quagmire of multiple reasons and it was not atheism that made stalin who he is, etc....
Religion ought to grow properly.
It is a shame that Oxford U believes that this notion needed debating.
The important thing about religion is, "please note these words" religion is behavior. Every single person who has good behavior is religious, far more its person believes that God is monoism, whatever His named, Allah, Yahweh, Elohab, or Elohim, they are just names. Just believe God is monoism then follow the good things that argued together. Those're all. I think, follow His prophets. They are good icon. 🌐🇬🇧❤️
+ismiallh no, his ancestors were persecuted for their religious belief.
And why should he give any credence to his ancestors' beliefs? Big deal, he's got a Jewish name.
That's exactly like telling Egyptians they should worship cats because their ancestors did. Ridiculous.
*****
Faith was not a major factor at all. If they would have stayed in Europe and had "faith" that god would not let them die they would all be dead. It is logical to assume that if you leave an area before the people who want to kill you get there you will survive.
nicpetnic
right
No commandment for rape? KThy shall not commit adultery, encompasses a lot of sexual sins and not just husband/wife cheating on each other
What about,.......'thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife' , which is the 2nd reference to this sin.
Adultery is with consent....rape isn't
Due to coronavirus, this image makes me so uncomfortable even though I know this is old.
conditioning... you have a severe case O.o
I liked the part on religiosity correlation with functionality of society. Just look at USA...
Exactly 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 it’s sad and cruel
Yes you are the only one irritated. The name is appropriate as this is only an excerpt of the debate. The debate in its entirety might be named something like "Does Religion harm society debate."
He's a genius
...Would today's torture of the 'Witch Children' of Africa (and around the globe) occur without religious people perpetuating a belief in the supernatural? Does religion open the door to this atrocity? Check out the documentary and article in the New York Times.
He has a point but he should stop looking at his ipad the whole time.
What about miracles, miracles that actually happen? What about electricity flowing down the arm of a Bishop onto the head of the person he is blessing at a Confirmation service? What about that.?
I wish I had half the amount of faith that it takes to be an atheist...
What’s the point of the beginning of your comment? You going through issues buddy? It just shows you that your religion has made you violent and hurtful to society furthering this mans point.
@@justinsane2111 No. it highlights that atheism is also faith based, but in the completely opposite direction. It’s faith that God absolutely does not exist and that your thinking is 100% correct
Where in Genesis is the part about the dinosaurs? Asking for a friend.🤣
Or Neanderthals or any other human like primates
Does Atheism harm society?
In forms of authoritarianism, communism or socialism yes its important for this years atheists to not make the mistakes of their predecessors i.e we want to be creating and maintaining free liberal democratic societies that treat all as equals in the eyes of rights and the rule of law, we don't want to create soviet unions or communist china's, I as atheist admit that my way of thinking isn't perfect and that is something people struggle with admitting and taking responsibility.
@@comradegotogulag8513 Thank God for you, at least not all of you are so wilfully ignorant. Thank you.
David would be more affective if he didn’t read his opinions.
In simple terms, Ignorance breeds ignorance. Intelligence breeds intelligence. Apply that to religion and Atheism.
America is the empire. America is religious. No debate in England will ever affect that. David Silverman is mad at his dad.
Wrongly titled, Religion harms society. His war doesn't include any of the other faiths but Christianity. Hopefully he learns there is a God before dying.
The only thing that can deter heinous acts,(since the death penalty is not a good deterrent) is eternal accountability - THAT WOULD BENEFIT SOCIETY!
elkeism, are you saying that the only deterrent to YOU murdering, raping or committing other "heinous acts", is that you believe you'll be punished eternally if you do? You literally said "the only thing that can deter"....
If that is true, then you are saying that without eternal accountability you would be out raping and killing? Not sure I am following the logic.
@@beakmanbob False dichotomy fallacy
I like the way he parrotphrased John Cleese.
Dave Catleugh paraphrase*
Miss Christopher Hitchens who could talk for hours without the help of notes.
You might want to put a personal pronoun at the beginning of your comment, the casual eye reads "Miss Cristopher Hitchens"....and I think he was married.....🤣🤣🤣
You should to change the title. You meant Christianity
no, religion harms society. no matter what religion it is...its not just christianity.
Chad W When, for example, buddhism harmed the society?
Marvin Matters um, giving up your life for no reason cause they think reincarnation is always possible? allowing a lion who was about to die from starvation but lives cause a moron thinks giving his life for the lion means more?????? get it?
Chad W
Well, Buddhist don't believe you have to become a monk to be reincarnated, everyone is reincarnated, you just have to live life the best you can in order to move up the ladder.
I agree the monk life-style doesn't float my boat, but to some, like Buddha himself, they might consider their life more fulfilled by giving up the materialistic lifestyle.
“Thou shall not kill, unless a non virgin wants to get married, a voice says kill your son, someone opposes you, you’re god, you see a gay person, you see a non Jew, or you feel like it” said the Bible
Nothing just can't create something so something created life too exist but we just don't understand it, we are not perfect but if you look at the universe, and look at the planet we live on or just the technology we create it's just so perfect something has to be behind it But I do agree what he says.
I thought Oxford people would be courteous enough to get the fuck out of the room if they can't stop coughing.
David Silverman - never heard of this name!?
Belief in God means nothing about your moral values.
*****
Is God omnipotent?
*_(capable of doing anything)_*
*****
Okay, so *_no_*.
Why would you worship a God who is limited in power?
*****
Omnipotence is defined as being able to do absolutely *_anything_*. The second you say the two words, "God can't" - you have refuted your own worldview.
*****
Do you notice a problem with the this sentence?
*"God is omnipotent, but He **_can't_** violate the law of non contradiction."*
That is a contradiction in and of itself.
*****
God is the Creator of all things, according to the Biblical worldview.
If this is the case, then it logically follows that God created the very concept of logic itself. Why is God constrained by the laws of logic, if He is the One who created logic to begin with?
Furthermore, Scripture goes gives multiple accounts of Jesus performing miracles. He walked on water, turned water into wine, healed the sick, and many other things. If God is limited by logic, then how do you explain all of these things?
You are so right
Good speech, but would have been better had he not been using an iPad the entire time.